> In fact (as I'm sure you know), one of the most beloved speech synthesizers among English-speaking blind users is a closed-source product called ETI-Eloquence

> In fact (as I'm sure you know), one of the most beloved speech synthesizers among English-speaking blind users is a closed-source product called ETI-Eloquence that has been basically dead for nearly 20 years. This is exactly the speech synthesizer I use daily. I've gotten so used to it over the years that switching away from it is painful. On Apple platforms, though, using it is not an option. So I use Karen. Used to use Alex, but Karen appears to be slightly more responsive and tries to do less human stuff when reading. Responsiveness is a very important factor, actually. Probably more so than people might realize. Eloquence and ESpeak react pretty much instantly whereas other voices might take 100 MS or so. This is a very big deal for me. Just like how one would like instant visual feedback on their screen, it's the same for me with speech. The less latency, the better. My problem with ESpeak is that it sounds very rough and metallic whereas Eloquence has a much warmer sound to it. I pitch mine down slightly to get an even warmer sound. Being pleasant on the ears is super important if you listen to the thing many, many hours a day.